By Zhu Huibin

On 14 April, after 12 hours of continuous work, the last 2300 tons of domestic produced asphalt cement was paved on Shanghai-Nantong Yangtze River Bridge successfully. The miraculous material can adapt to temperature change from -22 to 82 Celsius degrees. It is a sign that Chinese technology and Chinese material have solved the world class difficulty in large span steel bridge pavement.

The thin layer of asphalt cement on the bridge deck of Shanghai-Nantong Yangtze River Bridge shall have enough cohesion, no crack in winter and no deformation in summer, be able to protect the steel bridge deck; it shall have enough friction coefficient to ensure that a vehicle of 100 km/h speed can brake steadily.

As early as 2009, China Railway Major Bridge Reconnaissance and Design Institute, together with Jiangsu transport and Nantong urban construction systems tackled on technology in advance and experimented on the steel bridge deck of 204 national highway Nantong Jiu Yu Gang Bridge.

Pavement work is the last stage of technological tackle of various parties. Epoxy material in the lower level is sensitive to water, even one drop of water will destroy years of hard work. From 18 March to 14 April, Nantong meteorological bureau meteorological service enter found two ‘gold window phases’ for construction.

At 6:26 pm on that day, domestic produced asphalt of 1800 m long, 30 m wide and 6 cm thick was paved on Shanghai-Nantong Yangtze River Bridge contracted by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group.